Anger in Scotland After Fifth Helicopter Crash in Four Years

An undated handout photograph released by CHC Helicopter on August 24, 2013 shows a Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma L2 variant, the same model as the CHC operated helicopter that crashed in the North Sea off the coast of the Shetland Islands.

Tragedy struck in the North Sea late Friday, when a helicopter ditched while ferrying oil workers back from a rig. In Scotland, where some 55,000 people make a living in the offshore industry, there is much sadness and some considerable anger.

Four people died and 14 had to be rescued from the waters off the Shetland Islands north of the Scottish mainland after a Eurocopter AS322L2, operated by Canada’s CHC Helicopter, crashed on approach to Sumburgh Airport, the main base for energy-industry operations in the further reaches of the North Sea.

The Wall Street Journal reports that all Eurocopter Super Puma helicopters — a workhorse that accounts for more than half the flying capacity to the 600 offshore facilities in the U.K. sector of the North Sea — have now been grounded.

Some of the very best coverage came from right on the scene – Shetland News, one of the U.K.’s most northerly newspapers, comprehensively kept on top of the story all weekend. It provides excellent insight into the effect of this incident on the local community – and with this link to a Facebook page set up in response to the accident, it also demonstrates the level of anger being felt in Scotland after the fifth such crash in four years.

The Scotsman, in an editorial, says only a full and thorough investigation will merit the Super Pumas’ return to service with any degree of confidence.

Although Egyptian oil and gas fields remain open and functional, an estimated $5 billion is owed by Cairo. BP, BG Group, Eni and Edison could delay or cancel investments, the FT says, with potentially serious repercussions for Egyptian energy security.

Times of flux are also times of Realpolitik. But could Saudi Arabia really be so keen on its preferred resolution in Syria that it should offer an alliance between OPEC and Russia, as the Daily Telegraph reports?

It would certainly be a game-changer, but it’s hard to see how the Saudis would benefit. Put this one down to the Fog of War.

MARKETS

Brent crude oil was trading Tuesday at its highest level since early March as the prospect of military intervention in Syria’s civil war roiled the market. You can read the Journal’s latest oil-markets report here.